The biggest issue with offline AI - Defensive gap control

[dom22]

In my opinion, the biggest reason this game is so mind-numbingly boring to play against the AI offline is the horrendous defensive gap control. The AI simply allows the offensive team to gain the blueline without any harassment on the vast majority of zone entries. This leads to almost no neutral zone play, and essentially turns the game into basketball where getting into the opponent's zone is a foregone conclusion, taking away a lot of excitement from the game.

Of course there is a risk-reward to having a smaller gap, as you can get beaten to the outside by a good skater or get beaten by a deke if you improperly match the forward's speed. The way it is now (and has been forever), however, is way too far skewed towards having too large of a gap and makes the game too static, repetitive, and boring.

I attached a screen shot of a typical gap that the AI maintains in NHL 20 (with arrows showing where the stick and body should be to try to deny zone entry) and some gif I found online showing better gap control from a real game.

In the screenshot from NHL 20, with the numbers back and the back pressure from the backchecker, that play should result in either a dump in or a turnover, but instead I could easily skate down the boards and set up in the corner (just like every other trip down the ice - boring).

And I understand that not everyone wants more neutral zone play, and casuals may be turned off by that. But to me neutral zone play is too big a part of the sport to completely ignore. Maybe there could be a slider for this?

[Elite Virtual Hockey]

Quote: Originally Posted by dom22

In my opinion, the biggest reason this game is so mind-numbingly boring to play against the AI offline is the horrendous defensive gap control. The AI simply allows the offensive team to gain the blueline without any harassment on the vast majority of zone entries. This leads to almost no neutral zone play, and essentially turns the game into basketball where getting into the opponent's zone is a foregone conclusion, taking away a lot of excitement from the game. Of course there is a risk-reward to having a smaller gap, as you can get beaten to the outside by a good skater or get beaten by a deke if you improperly match the forward's speed. The way it is now (and has been forever), however, is way too far skewed towards having too large of a gap and makes the game too static, repetitive, and boring. I attached a screen shot of a typical gap that the AI maintains in NHL 20 (with arrows showing where the stick and body should be to try to deny zone entry) and some gif I found online showing better gap control from a real game. In the screenshot from NHL 20, with the numbers back and the back pressure from the backchecker, that play should result in either a dump in or a turnover, but instead I could easily skate down the boards and set up in the corner (just like every other trip down the ice - boring). And I understand that not everyone wants more neutral zone play, and casuals may be turned off by that. But to me neutral zone play is too big a part of the sport to completely ignore. Maybe there could be a slider for this?

Yep, that's a glaring issue with the AI and it's one I've tried to combat via strategy adjustments when playing offline. Unfortunately, all of the things I try to combat this (with moderate success) can only be done within a mode where you can control every team in the league (Season Mode, Playoff Mode, Play Now). These huge gaps are why the computer are so easy to slice and dice via passes immediately after the zone entry, because they seem to want to close the gap right after zone entry which means a simple center drive followed by a pass out-wide leads to easy 2-on-1's if not 2-on-0's. It also makes stretch-passes up the boards incredibly easy which makes it unrealistically easy to breakout of the zone. Watching NHL hockey, breaking out of the zone when a team has had a long possession is incredibly hard. Many chip outs, glass chips, high flips out of the zone because the pressure is so intense. So between the gap play and the D refusing to pinch by default, this game is very "pong" like and repetitive.

I will be updating my slider thread with most most recent sliders soon. It involves setting the CPU strategies to very aggressive levels, but it had made my game a lot more dynamic and fun. This game still has a lot of work to do under the hood though...